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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 



Chap. Copyright No. 

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

9—404 



THE STORY 



OF 



VALENTINE AND HIS BROTHER 



BY 

Mrs. Mrt)f %. Oliphant 



PARAPHRASED 

BY 

Susannah Bay 




New York 
WILLIAM R. JENKINS 
851-853 Sixth Avenue 
L - 

_ o \ q o O * 



93027 



Library of Corvo r»;ga 
'wo CWtCS RECEWtD 

OEC 241900 

SECOND COPY 
CWivwvd t» 

ORDER DIVISION 
JAM TO 1901 1 






COPYRIGHT, 1900, 

By Susannah Bat. 
,4ZZ Bights Beserved. 



Printed by the 

Press of William R. Jenkins 

New York 



THE STORY OF VALENTINE AND 
HIS BROTHER. 



The sky was wild and stormy, the rain poured down 

in sheets, 
When a tall, tramping woman strode along the village 

streets, 
And two crying little children with her stumbled on 

behind, 
In their feeble, helpless fashion, struggling hard 

against the wind. 
One of the village gossips, peering out into the 

rain, 
Stood still in her astonishment. Where is thae child- 
ren gaen ? 
u Woman,'' she called, "what ails ye, that ye're oot 

wP bairns the day ? 
Bring them baith in to the fireside ; ye hae surely lost 

yer way." 
The woman stopped an instant, then she turned a 

face of stone. 
"Is it far to Jean McFarlane's ?" she asked, in a sort 

of moan. 



THE STORY OF VALENTINE 



i ' Jean McFarlane's ! is it ? That is no' a place for you, 
Oae ye tae Mr. Malcolm's — he's a dacent body — do ; 
An' bide ye here a minute till I get the bairns a 

'piece'." 
But the tramper hardly waited for the other's voice 

to cease : 
On through the straggling village, over the little 

bridge, 
And up to a long, low, rambling house, that stood on 

a kind of ridge. 
' ' Never an honest gudewife would go to a hoose like 

that," 
Said the cottager to herself that night as she sat alone 

with her cat. 
But it was an honest gudewife, at Jean McFarlane's 

door. 
And Jean McFarlane saw it well, with her uncanny 

lore. 
" Weel! what is't ye're wan tin'!" she asked with half 

a jeer; 
And two men at the fire, drinking, looked up with 

drunken leer. 
4 ' Set ye up ! A private room ! Eh, sirs, this leddy's 

lost her road. 
It's the 'Bull' ye should hae gane to, mem. Just 

stop that girnin' toad; 



AND HIS BROTHER 



The brat is cauld and weet, I see, but that's nae 

reason why 
The haill hoose should be fashed to hear the little 

deevil cry." 
But a private room was furnished. Jean had guests 

of many sorts, 
And sometimes those escaping from the notice of the 

courts. 
Once in the room, the woman put her boys upon the 

bed, 
AVhere each fell asleep the minute he laid down his 

curly head. 
But the mother's face was eloquent with agony and 

fears, 
Like one who saw no hope for her through all the 

coming years. 
She looked like one who, dying, leaves his dearest 

upon earth; 
More, here below must parted be from all that makes 

life worth ; 
And round and round the room she went, as if her 

thoughts were wild, 
As if she were compelled to make a choice of either 

child. 
One little thing had thrown his shoe off down upon 

the floor ; 



THE STORY OF VALENTINE 



The other, wearing both, was sleeping nearest to the 

door; 
That sealed his fate. His mother drew him gently to 

her knee, 
Wrapped her shawl about him with a care 'twas 

pitif al to see, 
And, hurrying through the passages with footsteps 

swift and light, 
With that one child within her arms, went out into 

the night. 
The storm that raged the hamlet through raged 

fiercer on the hill, 
Tearing the branches, pouring rain, and scattering 

leaves at will; 
All through the park the tempest swept, and madly 

showed its power, 
Where a Lord Eskside always dwelt since one had 

held the tower. 
There, in the darkening drawing-room, sat, listening 

to the rain, 
Lady Eskside and a friend who after years had come 

again. 
The dismal day was closing in, and long had neither 

spoke, 
When, with what seemed an effort, Lady Eskside 

silence broke : 



AND I1IS BROTHER 



"As I have told you, Mary, 'tis a constant trial to 

me — 
And his father — that ruy Richard spends his years in 

Italy. 
,r Tis all that wretched marriage, dear, although his 

post alone, 
Without his claims here, at his age, he might be 

proud to own. 
You know the story of his life?" "I've heard it," 

Mary said ; 
4i Bat it is now so long ago" — and Mary bent her 

head. 
%, Hq married just a roadside tramp, a girl without a 

home, 
A farmer's, shepherd's, laborer's child of better race 

is come ; 
But there's a thing of which perhaps I should not 

speak to you, 
My Richard married her, thank God, which all men 

might not do. 
He married her, and when there was no mending — all 

was gone — 
He wrote to me, to come to him and see what could 

be done! 
I was appalled — nor more, nor less ; it wrung my very 

soul, 



6 THE STORY OF VALENTINE 

That ever child of mine should have so little self- 
control. 
Of course I went— they were in France — I might as 

well have stayed, 
You know yourself of such a woman nothing could 

be made. 
He had her taught; they travelled far; but my 

opinion is 
It did not much affect her, and I fancy it is 

his." 
"But, Lady Eskside," Mary said, "training like that 

from him 
Would change most women." Mary's thoughts were 

in a distance dim. 
"I perceived little, and I watched her progress 

anxiously ; 
I went there when the twins were born; there was no 

change to me; 
And then there came a change, indeed — the creature 

ran away, 
Taking the children. Where they are, we do not 

know this day. 
All the detective service could do for us was in 

vain, 
Richard went to America, and he came back 

again." 



AND HIS BROTHER 



At this the bell at the great door rang loud and fierce 

and long, 
A moment more, the door itself banged like a Chinese 

gong. 
Some time elapsed ; the butler came, reluctantly and 

slow. 
u What is the matter, Harding?" " My Lady, I don't 

know: 
They thrust a child right in my face, I had to take 

him in, 
Then slammed the door; you did not hear, the storm 

made such a din." 
"Praise God!" said Lady Eskside, "He has heard 

and answered me. 
Come, Mary, we know what it is, but we will go and 



The servants stood about the child, who, backing 

'gainst the wall, 
And, terrified, had squared his fists and seemed to 

brave them all. 
"Who are you?" Lady Eskside said. The child 

looked up amazed, 
Dropped his small arms, and at her face with a child 

wonder gazed. 



THE STORY OF VALENTINE 



"FmVal," he said, "and I aint come for nothing 

that is wrong; 
My mammy has gone back for Dick; she won't be 

very long. 
Dick's asleep ; mammy put me here 'cause it's so wet 

outside, 
I was too heavy, don't you see, to carry Dick 

beside." 
' ; Mary ! you hear him ! c Dick ' and ' Val ' — these are 

the names I know. 
Oh, Mary! God has answered me — I knew it would 

be so. 
My baby, come, and we will wait for mammy by the 

fire," 
And to her breast she clasped the child, all stained 

with rain and mire. 
And Lady Eskside waited for the mother all that 

night ; 
But Mary thought, "She'll never come." Mary was 

in the right. 



The Honorable Richard Ross, Her Majesty's En- 
voy, 

Was sent for now to claim his son and wish his 
mother joy. 



AND HIS BROTHER 



He came, a man at thirty-two, of elegance and 

ease, 
The last in all the world, you'd say, a low-born 

woman could please. 
"I'll own him, mother," Richard said. u My judg- 
ment quite concurs 
In what you've done; none knowing her could doubt 

that this was hers." 
" Ah! Richard, it is you he's like," the mother said 

in pain ; 
And the man, with his indifferent air, called the child 

back again. 
** Is this like me? and this? and this?" touching Val's 

brow and hah*. 
Now the mother had been very dark and the father 

very fair. 



Valentine grew, as children do, and Val was sent to 

school, 
A kindlier, stronger, handsomer lad than lads are as 

a rule. 
All his reports were fairly good; Lord Eskside felt 

repaid, 
And Lady Eskside shed some tears when those reports 

were made, 



10 THE STORY OF VALENTINE 

For in their minds lay double fear, checked ere 'twas 

well begun : 
Val's father had done foolishly, Val w 7 as his mother's 

son. 
But fortune still seems favoring them, and blessings 

intertwine, 
For Richard said the elder of the twins was Valentine. 
After a year Yal's tutor wrote, " with much regret," 

to send 
The news that "Valentine had found a most improper 

Mend," 
A youth employed about the boats, much liked by 

Eton men; 
But Val had carried things too far, and reprimands 

were vain. 
The tutor's letter showed such ire, Val wrote in such 

distress, 
Lord Eskside moved a compromise : "Let intercourse 

be less." 
Long after, when at Oxford, where Val went for his 

degree, 
In a letter to his grandmother this postscript added he : 
"And, grandmamma, there's something I must not 

forget to tell, 
Brown, the young boatbuilder is here, and he does 

very well." 



AND HIS BROTHER 11 

But even years at Oxford eonie to an end at 

last, 
The man must now begin his life, boyhood and youth 

all past. 
Val made the usual tour abroad, and lastly went to 

see 
His father, still diplomatist in sunny Italy. 
If Richard was not all delight to have a son full 

grown 
To introduce in that gay world where he so brilliant 

shone, 
Still he w^as glad to see the boy, and proud, too, in 

in his way, 
While Valentine grew quite elate to find his father's 

sway. 
And as the two together talked of what to both was 

dear, 
The feeling and affection grew — natural in those so 

near. 
One evening, in discussing some political event, 
Val said Lord Eskside's hopes for him all turned to 

Parliament. 
4% To Parliament!" said Richard, and he spoke in 

high disdain ; 
" I really wish my father would not bring that up 
again ; 



12 THE STORY OF VALENTINE 

It is the most absurd idea." "I wish, sir," Val re- 
plied, 

L i You'd remember — that — my grandfather's — my 
grandfather," he cried. 

Richard Ross smiled. "Ah! yes," he said, " but he 
is not that to me ; 

He's my father only ; that makes all the difference, 
you see." 

And then with generalities the man assuaged the boy : 

It was a thing which possibly might cause them 
much annoy, 

All that a man has ever done— or that his foes invent — 

Is brought up at the hustings with the most malign 
intent. 

"But I have not done anything," cried Valentine in 
haste ; 

"Not anything in all my life that I should be dis- 
graced." 

"Your life is short," his father said, "and there 
perhaps may be 

Those older and more widely known to draw the 
enemy. 

And now, Val, let me see your views — the pictures of 
your friends, 

Oxford for me has all the soft enchantment distance 
lends." 



AND E1S BROTHER 13 

And Val, delighted, brought them to a hanging lamp 

in reach, 
And to his father's suave inquiries gave his history of 

each. 
11 What's this? 1 ' asked Richard suddenly, and very 

gravely too. 
" Oh, nothing; it's our boathouse; 'tis, I know, a 

stupid view, 
It ought not to be in with those — it slipped in out of 

place " — 
u Pardon" (and Richard held it back), "this is a 

striking face." 
"That's Dick Brown's mother; she's taken there by 

accident, I think, 
When I row on the river she is always at the brink. 
You call her face a striking one : it looks so as I pass. 
And she is very handsome too, of course in her own 

class. 
Dick's got on like a house a-fire — you never saw such 

luck; 
No doubt it is his industry, and I should say his 

pluck; 
He's head man at that boatbuilder s, he's everyone's 

good word," 
And Val himself showed feeling, as if his soul were 

stirred. 



14 THE STORY OF VALENTINE 

4 * Don't you remember what a row old Morgan made 

at home, 
That I was in low company and grandpapa must come? 
He prophesied I'd get to grief, that you'd be so averse ; 
It's true, I must have other friends, but, sir, I might 

have worse." 



That night, when Valentine retired to the young 

man's joyous rest, 
His father did not seek his own with any special zest. 
Over and over he recalls the many bitter things 
Which from his strange and burdened life fond recol- 
lection brings. 
1 ' Maladetta!" said this husband between his clenched 

teeth, 
• It is for you I'm driven as the whirlwind drives the 

leaf. 
That is my wife." It roused him past diplomacy and 

pelf. 
If Valentine was like her, she was still more like 

herself. 
It was an awful thing, and strange, that Richard in 

his heart 
Should hold his wife responsible for her so passive 

part ; 



AND HIS BROTHER 15 

The flower that growing 'neath the hedge is plucked 

and thrown aside, 
If less conscious, no more passive, than was Richard 

Ross's bride. 
Her flight he did not now regret — he was in measure 

free; 
It was his marriage he bemoaned, fiercely and bit- 
terly. 
Bat Val went back to Scotland, and Richard day by 

day 
Pursued his avocations in his finished, thorough 

way; 
And it was some time after Val's Italian visks date, 
He wrote his father he'd become the Tory candidate. 
When Richard read these lines he said, " Since this 

is all begun, 
Nothing's left one but to wait for what must come 

before 'tis done. 



Val's canvassing went on with great success, 
Lord Eskside's strength and skill, 
His insight, his experience, caution, will, 

Were all employed; while Valentine— made a 
good candidate's address. 



16 THE STORY OF VALENTINE 

Still there was much to fear. Val, young, 
untried, 
With neither strength nor skill, 
With but youth's insight and a young man's 
will: 
'Twas on high Tory principle, in truth, their 
hopes relied. 



Three mornings ere the balloting, when Harding 
came downstairs 

To take the chair and read the news, as he said, " un- 
awares," 

Suddenly he became as white as if he felt a 
blow. 

What was it that was set down there? Who to it 
could say no? 

'Twas but the tale of Valentine Ross, with some ill- 
nature told : 

A tramper brat — a stormy night — a woman wisely 

bold- 
Two fond old people take the child, adopted from 
that day, 

While his reputed father most astutely keeps away. 



AND HIS BROTHER 17 

"And now, friends and electors, it needs not to 

remind you 
That this is not at all the sort of candidate to bind 

you. 
Lord Eskside and Sir Philip Spence are those of 

whom we're proud, 
And they perhaps might have our votes if principle 

allowed; 
But a boy without a birthplace ! — a stripling without 

name ! 
The county cannot think of it without a sense of 

shame." 



As Lord Eskside read this paper his heavy eyebrows 

worked, 
But no sign of fear or flinching in the eyes beneath 

them lurked ; 
"When Lady Eskside's here," he said, u ask her to 

come to me," 
Then he went in and shut the door of the great 

library. 
This came from Alexander Pringle, barrister-at- 

law, 
The next of kin in case VaTs rights should prove to 

have a flaw, 



18 TEE STORY OF VALENTINE 

And, what made it more dastardly, with children of 

his own, 
Val's playmates and companions until all were fully 

grown. 



At length the dreaded day had come when Valentine 

must be, 
Not tried for life, but next to it — tried for his 

pedigree. 
The village swarmed, and every road was thorough- 
fare that day, 
Such was the nature of the fight no soul could keep 

away. 
Lady Eskside at the window of the " Bull " must do 

her part, 
Smiling, with her friends around her, although with 

a bursting heart ; 
While the Liberal ladies opposite have mustered in 

great force, 
And their leader's wife appears to feel insured against 

all loss. 
And naturally she feels so ; from the time that they 

begin, 
The Tory votes rise slowly, while the Liberal votes 

pour in, 



AND HIS BROTHER 19 

And every point that made for Val had been so 

wisely gained, 
That now at Pringle's telling blow no last resource 

remained. 
Yet many an honest Liberal felt that they never had 
A victory as dearly won, with less to make them 

glad; 
And every voter knew the earl believed in his own 

claim, 
A man an honor in himself to family and name. 
Still all those drifting currents, caught by each wind 

as it blows, 
Were taken by this Liberal gale to swell the Tory 

foes. 
And now comes through the parting crowd a phaeton 

and pair, 
The lady driving, standing up, a woman tall and 

fair; 
Straight to the "Bull" she wends her way through 

the long street of the town, 
She has VaTs ribbons on her whip and on her hat 

and gown. 
This lady is the daughter of a well-known Liberal 

sire, 
Who may himself perhaps one day to Parliament 

aspire; 



20 THE STORY OF VALENTINE 

And now to find these Tory colors valiantly dis- 
played, 

Both high and low are wondering why such a change 
is made. 

" Good morning, Lady Eskside," she cries; " we vote 
with you ; 

We're Liberal, but we like fair play, and we shall 
have it too." 

There was a pause, then cheer on cheer rose from 
that varying throng. 

Liberal votes fell — the tide was turned — Valentine 
Ross had won. 



The new-elected member with his friends and train 

retire, 
Lord Eskside as he always was, Val with his face on 

fire; 
And as the people make a lane for these grandees to 

pass, 
Some one around upon the left hurries across the 

grass: 
'Tis Alexander Pringle Junior, just from foreign 

tour; 
Where Val went, there the Pringles went, of that you 

may be sure. 



AND HIS BROTHER 21 

But Sandy, just returned, has not heard what his 

father wrote, 
He only knows the friend has won for whom he 

meant to vote ; 
His hand outstretched, his eager face with youth and 

pleasure shown, 
He came to Val, who instantly — turned round and 

knocked him down. 



This was disgrace. As Lord and Lady Eskside 

talked it o'er, 
It seemed but fitting consequence of all that went 

before. 
Alas! they did not yet know all of that eventful day: 
Val was his mother's son, and Val — had run away. 



From his Italian palace, Lord Eskside's absent son 
Was watching in solicitude he had not cared to 

own. 
But, from the time the English papers told of Val's 

success, 
His letters stopped, no line from home of detail, more 

or less. 



THE STORY OF VALENTINE 



At last a telegram arrived with these words, none 

beside : 
" Is Valentine with you?" It was signed " Catherine 

Eskside." 
"Is Valentine with you?" thought Richard; "that 

means Val is gone, 
The whole sad story has come out, and it cannot be 

borne ; 
I must get there," but Richard halted at that weird 

old town, 
Where his boys first saw light, and had the record 

copied down. 
"Oh, my dear, where is Valentine?" poor Lady 

Eskside said. 
i ' Your father is in London, but I'm sometimes sure 

Val's dead." 
"No, mother; there's that in his blood, I think 

should calm your fears ; 
He has but followed a wild will, like one in other 

years." 
Of Richard Ross's own "wild will" he seemed not 

to have thought : 
Val was not second, but the third, who misery had 

brought. 
4 ' And, Richard, you will go at once, and bring him 

back, my dear; 



AND HIS BROTHER 23 

Your father said but little, but he might have been 

severe." 
"Yes, mother, I will go at once, but not, I think, 

to-day, 
Valentine is no boy, that this will not admit 

delay." 
Richard perhaps had hardly felt that agony of 

pride, 
At hearing of the knocking down, it cost to Lord 

Eskside ; 
But sometimes the idea that Yal had turned like her 

who bore him, 
Would aggravate his father so, he cared not to 

restore him. 
Yet two days saw this member of the Diplomatic 

Corps, 
His valet, and his luggage, in the railway train once 

more ; 
The train for Oxford, though he told no one where he 

was bound, 
Nor even had his ticket bought 'till off of Scottish 

ground. 
,; I think Valentine," said Richard, "in his present 

state of mind 

Would go to Oxford, and perhaps leave an address 
behind." 



24 THE STORY OF VALENTINE 

Arrived in Oxford's classic precincts just as the sun 

had set, 
Richard soon found the little house Dick worked so 

hard to get. 
He waited — knocked — there stood his wife, and 

Richard's heart stopped still. 
" Is Valentine with you?" Yes, sir; but he is very 

ill." 
"How long since he was taken ill? Have you 

advice?" he asked. 
"I have the best that could be had; they say the 

worst is past." 
"Myra, you know me?" "Yes, sir, — " "And is 

this after all — " 
" Oh, sir," the mother only in her face, "I heard him 

call." 
She left him like a flash, — he was a half -forgotten 

shade, 
Her soul, her life, all with the child, where cares and 

prayers were laid. 
Richard Ross saw this perfectly; he stood a moment 

there, 
And then — what else was there to do? — went up the 

little stair. 
In the dim light lay Valentine, tossing his fevered 

head, 



AND HIS BROTHER 25 

Unconscious of those figures strange on either side 
his bed. 



Poor Val had gone to Oxford without any grave 

design: 
Sick, disgraced, he cared not where he went, nor 

what he did, in fine : 
Rowing idly on the river, let his outrigger capsize, 
Not having seen his mother, yet before her very eyes. 
She saw him in the water, she perceived he did not 

swim, 
Val was weak with coming illness, lassitude in every 

limb; 
Seizing a boat that floated near, her strong arm took 

the oar, 
And in a moment Val and Myra were upon the shore. 



The mistress sat alone that day within the Eskside 

towers, 
While sadness and anxiety but slowly marked the 

hours : 
The painful present in her mind, the past with all it 

bore; 
She raised her weary eyes and saw Harding was 

at the door. 



26 THE STORY OF VALENTINE 

"My Lady, there's a man — I mean a gentleman — 

below, 
I put him in the dining room — I really did not 

know — " 
Down the great staircase Lady Eskside went, almost 

with speed, 
But when she saw her visitor she trembled like a reed. 
"Boy, boy, who are you? Oh! who are you?" with 

a piteous cry. 
" My Lady, no one but Dick Brown," he, wondering, 

made reply. 
"I come from Mr. Valentine Ross, who's better now 

and will 
Improve," (Dick dreaded fresh alarm); "but he is 

very ill." 
" Where is he? Who is with him?" Her gray eye on 

him bends. 
"He is at my place, my lady; I thought I should 

tell his friends. 
" Where is your mother? Who is she? — though very 

well I know. 
My boy, the night train comes at eight, and you and 

I will go." 
Here was a proposition ! Poor Myra had perforce, 
In spite of her heart's wild dismay, sent word of Mr. 

Ross; 



AND HIS BROTHER 27 

"Dick, never speak of me," she said, in manifest 

affright. 
"If they ask you, do not answer, and come back 

that very night." 
Dick had set forth most willingly, yet puzzled, sad, 

and tried, 
Crossing that other traveller's path who came south 

from Eskside. 
Dick's was a generous soul, but yet sometimes his 

eyes grew dim : 
Since Mr. Ross had come his mother scarcely thought 

of him. 
That she was always right this loyal son could take 

for granted, 
But yet she was his all, and it was hard to be 

supplanted. 
Had Dick stood where his father stood within that 

very hour, 
And heard his mother's pleadings that Dick might be 

left with her, 
He would have felt their love at least unchanged on 

either side, 
And worse men than Dick Brown had been entirely 

satisfied. 
There was a mystery somewhere : Dick, familiar with 

that class 



28 THE STORY OF VALENTINE 

Where many things avoid the light, strove hard to let 

it pass ; 
But now this strange old lady, though half lunatic, 

no doubt, 
Yet clearly knew the story too. Dick could not 

make it out. 



The lady, maid, and the young man calling himself 

Dick Brown, 
Reaching Lord Eskside's London inn, were then and 

there set down. 
By telegram had Lady Eskside told of Valentine, 
But naturally no farther word of all she could 

divine. 
Yet, bringing Dick to Lord Eskside, she felt in very 

truth, 
He could not miss Dick's likeness to Richard in his 

youth. 
The earl, excited in his way, was in no mood to scan 
A person like Dick, and but saw a well-made working 

man. 
"I think," he said, "it will be well that you sit 

in the hall, 
Where, when her ladyship must go, you'll hear me as 

I call." 



AND HIS BROTHER 29 

"Go, my dear," Lady Eskside said, "you'll be a 

comfort yet 
To those who seem entirely blind and everything 

forget." 
"I don't know what my lady means," the earl spoke 

with some state ; 
11 It may be at the station that you had better wait." 
Dick was a man of too much sense and too much 

strength of mind 
To think Lord Eskside meant to be, or that he was, 

unkind; 
He would have said he liked this best, yet Lady 

Eskside's petting 
Had made, it may be — Dick was young — a change of 

tone upsetting. 
So these three, none of them well pleased, including 

young Dick Brown, 
Embarked together on the train for famous Oxford 

town. 
Arrived there, and when near his house, young Dick 

went on before, 
To go around it to the rear and open the front door. 
As he vanished, Richard Ross himself came down the 

little path. 
Richard has known this always, thought his mother, 

clumb with wrath, 



30 THE STORY OF VALENTINE 

But he had not known it always: he had wondrous 

things to tell, 
And, best of all the blessed tidings, Val was doing 

well. 
Dick, hastening through the passage, found the door 

was left ajar, 
While, quite at home, upon his steps three people 

talking are. 
This was too much : his mother changed, he treated 

like a toy, 
A man through all his struggling life, respected from 

a boy; 
And now they take his house, nor know, nor care 

that he is there, 
Yet, since it was for Mr. Ross, he'd gladly all this 

bear. 
"I'll go to work," thought Dick, "and stay where 

fine folks cannot come," 
And for the first time turned his back on mother and 

on home. 
Richard meanwhile was telling Val was better, all 

was theirs, 
And with most grateful, reverent hearts, these cul- 
prits went up stairs. 
Myra stood at Val's door, her head was bent, her 

eyes downcast ; 



AND HIS BROTHER 31 

"God bless you, my dear," said Lord Eskside to her 

as he passed. 
Val was better, and he knew them, in the sick man's 

passive way, 
Fond and smiling, scarcely realizing they were not 

there yesterday. 
The old earl stood beside the bed and saw his 

darling's face ; 
He watched the nurse and mother in her half savage 

grace ; 
He waited in the little parlor for the doctor's call, 
And then he said, "111 not sit longer staring at this 

wall; 
I'll find that fellow Dick, and see what can be made 

of him ; 
He took French leave this morning." The earl's 

smile was rather grim. 



Dick was a fellow whom it was not difficult to find, 

Styles's head man stood out in every undergraduate 
mind. 

These were the busy, closing hours of the busy boat- 
house day; 

Lord Eskside stood where he could see, yet keep out 
of Dick's way. 



32 THE STORY OF VALENTINE 

'Twas, " Brown, come here." "Dick, where are 

you? something's wrong with these oars." 
The undergraduates filled the place and thronged its 

many doors. 
"Dick, what are you so long for there? What ails 

you? Don't you see 
I'm waiting?" " Brown, I called you first; leave that 

and come to me." 
He's like my father, thought the earl, as Dick moved 

to and fro, 
Steady, though hurried, competent to what he had 

to do; 
But very soon Lord Eskside's low voice said, 

"Enough of this," 
And Brown was marched away from them, an earl's 

arm linked in his. 



Through the long days that followed, Myra's voice 

was never heard 
But in answer to some question, except once, when 

this occurred : 
She said it rather suddenly and in her simple 

way, 
Without the most remote idea of what it was to 

say, 



AND E1S BROTHER 33 

" You all think Val the eldest;" she shook her hand- 
some head ; 
"It is Dick who is the eldest, and not Val," the 

mother said. 
Nor Val nor Dick were present, the others all were 

there ; 
It seemed as if a gun had burst upon the startled 

air, 
When Richard, with the calm command which he at 

times could show, 
Said this must not be mentioned, that his sons must 

never know. 
Lord Eskside thought if this were well, he could not 

quite see how ; 
He hated subterfuge, and then — suppose Dick knew 

it now ! 
But Val recovered, they go north, to live as best they 

can, 
The lady with the roadside tramp, Richard with 

Styles's head man. 



And were they happy? Yes— perhaps— all save the 

one poor soul, 
Who, tool of her own ignorance, had madly wrecked 

the whole ; 



34 THE STORY OF VALENTINE 

To live housed with Dick at Oxford had cost effort 

no one knew, 
But here to meet the forms of life was more than she 

could do ; 
A prison were the pictured walls, the curtains choked 

her breath, 
She panted like a captured thing, with no escape but 

death. 
Dick and she ranged the park for hours, Dick 

anxious, under strain, 
And now the passion of her soul all turned to Dick 

again. 
One day a bed of primroses had sweetened all the 

air: 
"Ah! Dick," she said, "how I should like to sell 

them here and there." 
Coming next morning to her rooms, Dick found his 

mother gone, 
There was no cause for fear, and yet he felt himself 

alone ; 
1 c She has but gone to get those flowers ; I must not 

be so weak;" 
Yet he called Val to come with him. They had not 

far to seek. 
The breeze around blew fresh and free, the blue sky 

overhead, 



AND HIS BROTHER 85 

And there — among the primroses — they found her 
lying — dead. 



To Dick had come a loss supreme ; the whole world 

was to him 
Enshrouded, and to those so young the heavens are 

sometimes dim. 
And Val too sorrowed; volumes could not tell so 

well the worth 
Of those who reared him, as that Val mourned her 

who brought him forth. 
But Val had something on his mind which softened 

every mood, 
The question now became for him to have it under- 
stood. 
The five were in the gloaming, and Richard's mind 

had flown 
To the Embassy and Italy, where he would soon be 

gone, 
When Val began to speak, and paused, spoke, and 

then paused again. 
"What's coming now?" his father thought. Val 

tried once more, and then 
Announced, before his panic-stricken elders could 

cry "Quarter," 



36 THE STORY OF VALENTINE 

The wish, of all things in this world, to wed old 

Pringle's daughter! 
It seemed to Richard Ross as if his trials would never 

cease, 
As if perverse fate never could allow him a release. 
Anger blazed in Lord Eskside's eyes: "What is it 

you tell me? 
Marry a daughter of the man we know Pringle 

to be!" 
"But, grandpapa," said Val, "he failed — and all he 

meant to do 
We feared he might succeed in only — because what 

he said was true." 
"True!" said his father; "I must hope that cannot 

be made clear; 
His letter calls you ' nameless,' says a stranger 

brought you here : 
Your logic is affected by your interest in your friend, 
For she who brought you was my wife ; there let the 

matter end." 
This marriage I'll not brook, thought Richard; my 

unhappy past, 
Pringle's behavior, love or force must win the day at 

last. 
And never in his skilful life did Richard Ross com- 
bine 



AND HIS BROTHER 3? 

The brilliant powers he used so well, as now with 

Valentine. 
But Richard's skill, Lord Eskside's sense, all they 

could urge or say, 
With Lady Eskside's soft appeals, were simply thrown 

away. 
Val's answers all came back to this : ' l 'T was what he 

wished to do, 
And, had they loved him, he was sure that they 

would wish it too." 
He did not seem to listen to the arguments they 

brought, 
He was but the spoiled child again, without a care or 

thought, 
Until the trained diplomatist, the man of self- 
control, 
Lost his patience and his temper, and told the boy 

the whole. 
"An inexperienced thoughtlessness has just led you 

to say 
Lord Eskside's grandson, my first son, may follow 

his own way; 
Absurd as that position is, it is not yours to 

take, 
Your brother is the elder-born, we've made a grave 

mistake : 



THE STORY OF VALENTINE 



To reconstruct your plan of life, and see where 

your course lies, 
At present is enough for you without encumbering 

ties." 
An instant Val's cheek blanched, his young lip 

quivered in distress, 
Then, "Sir," he answered, "all my acts will matter 

so much less." 
"Stop!" cried Dick hoarsely; "do you think I ever 

will or can 
Take rights that are for Valentine in sight of God 

and man? 
Who made me what I am, poor as that is, but he? 
Who found me? — helped me?— raised me from my 

outcast tramp degree?" 
"I think, Dick, you are bound," said Richard, "by 

the laws, you'll find." 
1 ' I beg your pardon, sir ; I'm bound by nothing of 

the kind." 
"My boy," Lord Eskside said, "the question here is 

is not for you 
Nor me to settle; generations must be kept in view." 
"That does not touch me, sir," cried Dick; "if 

there's no other way 
I'll leave the country — go where none can trace me ; 

there I'll stay." 



AND HIS BROTHER 39 

"It is not in you," Richard said. "You don't know 

what's in me ; 
You did not know her — may God bless her; I'm a 

man and free. 
Father and grandfather — I've never called you so 

before — 
Don't make me an exile — wanderer — drive me from 

your door. 
I know what that life is, I've learned the pleasures of 

a home, 
I want to live with the old folks through all the 

years to come." 
"Dick," said Lord Eskside, "we'll admit you have 

made out your cause ; 
1 Live with the old folks'" (the earl laughed), "we 

will not fear the laws." 
"Training," said Richard, "preparation, are with 

Valentine ; 
Not to disparage you, my boy, the error has been 

mine." 
It was decided : Valentine, as Valentine of yore, 
Had married Violet Pringle before many months 

were o'er. 



J&a - 17 1901 



DEC 24 1900 



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